Spaceport: One small step

A deal with Sierra Nevada Corp. gives reason to hope for Ellington Spaceport.

Copyright 2014: Houston Chronicle

April 11, 2014Updated: April 12, 2014 2:04pm

Photo: Smiley N. Pool, Staff

Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president and head of Sierra Nevada Corporation's Space Systems shakes hands with Mario Diaz, City of Houston Aviation Director, after signing a document to work together on development of a spaceport at Ellington Airport on Thursday, April 10, 2014, in Houston. ( Smiley N. Pool / Houston Chronicle )

Mark Sirangelo, corporate vice president and head of Sierra Nevada...

The announcement last year that Houston would invest in upgrading Ellington Airport to a spaceport sent a thrill through the hearts of Space City boosters. It also sent a chill to the pocketbook of anyone familiar with the eight underserved spaceports that already dot our country. Houston's history and workforce make us an ideal location for a suburban spaceport, but there simply isn't the demand for yet another specialized landing strip that cannot handle rocket launches. At its core, Ellington Spaceport is a project of the heart.

Luckily for Houston taxpayers, Sierra Nevada Corp. Vice President of Space Systems Mark Sirangelo shares in that heart, and signed a deal with the Houston Airport System to study what it would take to land at Ellington.

Sierra Nevada is building a small, winged shuttle called the Dream Chaser that it hopes will replace Russia's Soyuz as NASA's transport to the International Space Station. It would launch on top of a rocket, but land like a glider. Given that Vladimir Putin's Russia charges NASA more than $70 million to ferry a single astronaut to low-Earth orbit, an American alternative can't come soon enough.

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Still, there is a long way to go before Ellington could serve as an occasional landing site for the next generation of shuttles. The barriers aren't necessarily technical, but more logistical and regulatory. How do you interrupt the plane traffic at nearby Hobby Airport? Is it safe to land a shuttle in the middle of a city? What would all this cost?

Even if Ellington can address those issues, the spaceport's success would also rely on the Dream Chaser being recruited for missions. With funds for the ISS set to run out in 2024, folks should wonder if there will be enough business in low-Earth orbit to go around.

That 2024 date isn't just a concern for Sierra Nevada. Thousands of Houston jobs and billions of dollars are in the ISS orbit, whether at the Johnson Space Center or with private contractors. An ill-timed budget cut could doom that forever. This is an area where Space City isn't just about heart, but the local economy. We can't afford to lose one of Houston's crown jewels.

While the Houston Airport System works to expand Space City into the next generation of spaceflight, Houston's delegation in Congress needs to ensure that we remain Space City at all.